A new poll concludes that while former Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown is leading over Democratic U.S. Rep. Ed Markey in the the Massachusetts special election to replace Secretary of State John Kerry- it's not by much.

A survey released by the Democratic Public Policy Polling firm on Wednesday concluded that in a hypothetical match-up between the duo, Brown bests Markey 48-45 percent, within the poll's 3.6 percent margin of error.

When Brown was placed against U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch in a hypothetical match-up, he led the moderate South Boston Democrat, 48-39 percent.

A MassINC Polling Group survey released last Friday showed Brown holding a significant 22-point lead over Markey, 53-31 percent, in a telephone survey of 435 registered voters. That poll also concluded that while Markey has received the support of many big-ticket Democrats, 71 percent of those surveyed said they would prefer to see a primary which Democrat proceeds to the special election.

In an analysis of where Eastern Massachusetts Senate hopefuls Markey and Lynch stand in the eyes of a statewide audience, 52 percent of Democrats polled said they would choose Markey in a primary election. Lynch pulled 17 percent of his party's support while 29 percent said they were unsure, signaling that if Lynch hits the trail hard enough before the April 30 primary, he could close the gap and knock Markey off the ballot.

The favorable/unfavorable rankings of the three politicians also tell a story.

For Brown, who has always polled popular in Massachusetts, 50 percent of those surveyed said they have a favorable perception of him while 43 percent said their view was unfavorable. Only seven percent were not sure how they felt about the Wrentham native.

Markey has a 38/35 percent favorable/unfavorable ranking while Lynch has a 26/31 ranking, the survey concluded. But for those two men, the undecided numbers were 27 and 43 percent, respectively, indicating that as they introduce themselves to the commonwealth outside their congressional districts, the numbers can shift.

Gov. Deval Patrick appointed his former former chief of staff William "Mo" Cowan as the state's new interim U.S. senator on Wednesday. Cowan will serve alongside Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who defeated Brown in November, until the special election to replace Kerry for the remainder of his term concludes with a special election on June 25.

The automated telephone survey of 763 Massachusetts voters has a 3.6 percent margin of error while the sample of 404 Democratic primary voters is 4.9 percent.